From the Day You were Born
by Inevitablemoving
Summary: In the weeks before summer, Piedmont Middle School is having a school dance to end the year. Despite Mabel's excitement, Dipper is filled with dread, fearing yet more rejection from the opposite sex. Mabel takes it upon herself to make sure her brother has a date, confidence, and the best night of his life.
1. Chapter 1

"From the Day you were Born."

Chapter 1:

School days work in a hierarchy, almost none of them good, most varying degrees of bad. Some days were better than others, and some days one wished never happened at all. But out of all the days at school, Mabel Pines knew immediately what the best one's were: The best school-days were when a dog walked into the school-yard. Thankfully, this was one of those days.

The weather was okay. It was nearly summertime in California, so you'd think there wouldn't be as many clouds. The school-work was okay. It was just a month from the end of school, and then the glorious summer ahead, though the teacher clearly wanted to squeeze every last drop of homework out of them as he could, almost as if he got sadistic pleasure from their groans at every announcement. This was nonsense of course; her teacher clearly had never experienced the concept of pleasure. Despite all that…gosh darn it, this little Alsatian that wandered in through the gates was making today the best day of her life. Sitting at the apex of the group, aggressively but lovingly caressing the neck of the adorable creature, virtually the whole class doted over it in a circle. Mabel always had a way with animals, in that she loved all of them, each and every one. No species was left out in the cold in her world. "Except for Polar bears," she corrected herself once. "They probably need some." For her good faith, animals always seemed attracted to her, and this dog was certainly no exception.

Good things of course, could not last forever, or even an appreciable length of time it seemed. The teacher, Mr. Caesar, with a face so stoic it would injure him if he attempted to smile, scattered the now forlorn group, as the dog was gently led outside the property. The whole class followed this strange traveller as he left, walled back by the railings, all hypnotically transfixed. Some were standing to get the best look, to see off their new, albeit briefly acquainted friend.

Mabel perched herself on the railings and swung backwards and forwards in an evidently unsafe manner. "This is gonna be an amazing day, and I don't even know how yet!" she beamed, excitedly.

She could hear the slowly escalating sound of running feet, coming in her direction. She had known the sound for so long, that she could immediately identify him based merely on the pacing between steps, and of course, the intensifying panting. It was her brother, Dipper, coming to a crashing halt against the rails. So sudden was the stop, his hat nearly flew off his head, if not for his arm racing across the air, with the same instinct that one would use in the face of life and death. Dipper looked around anxiously in all directions.

"Isn't there a dog here?" he asked, miraculously in one breath.

"There was. You missed him," Mabel smirked.

"Aw man." Dipper groaned, leaning his back against the railing to catch his breath. "I heard there was a dog coming in. Why can't I ever be around when this stuff happens?"

"Well," Mabel sniggered, pointing at the book being held loosely in his hands, fingers still dividing the crucial pages, "If you weren't spending all your time at the far end of the playground, reading those silly monster books by yourself, maybe you'd actually see things that us normal people see."

"Hey! Hey!" Dipper arose, the slight of honour having seemingly removed any exhaustion. "These are books about REAL creatures that science hasn't discovered yet! Just look at the eyewitness testimony, the SONAR, the video footage! It-it just all makes sense!"

Mabel climbed off the rail, and smiled the same infuriating smile adults and children alike would give to Dipper when he started to talk about monsters and the like. "Come on Dip, you don't really think we all just _missed_ the Loch Ness Monster now, do you?"

"That's _exactly_ what they said about the coelacanths, Mabel! Supposedly dead for millions of years, and they come back safe and sound! Yeah, I'm not sure about the Loch Ness Monster, but you know about Ogopogo?"

"Ogo-wha-wha?"

For Dipper, this was like someone asking who Abraham Lincoln was. "Ogopogo!" he blustered, waving his hands in exasperation. "It's a plesiosaur in Canada! They have so much SONAR evidence, all these stories, I mean, you just have to read it! Oh man, I'd love to go up there for summer. Imagine it Mabel! Me and you, hunting for dinosaurs! We'll go on the lake, stake out at night-"

"Do a scrapbook!" she interjected excitedly.

Dipper returned confused eye contact, having been walking and talking in his own tangent. "Uh, yeah, if you want…But then we'll find it and boom! We can have anything we want! Imagine the headlines!" he said, looking at the sky, and grabbing Mabel towards him. He stretched his hand above their heads, deepened his voice and let his imagination do the talking: "Piedmont Twins discover creature thought dead for 65 million years! This intrepid duo bravely discovered a real life Plesiosaurus, in the greatest scientific discovery in history! The two are on their way now to meet the President himself to-"

Dipper could not continue with Mabel sniggering so hard. "Sorry Dipper," she laughed, "Go on! It's cute when you do your thing."

Dipper sighed. "I wish." He resigned himself back against the railing, his enthusiasm crumbling like clumped sand. "Instead we have to go to the middle of nowhere to work in some crummy shack. 'Gravity Falls.' Seriously? We're going to spend our whole summer trapped inside a pun so bad it wouldn't make it into that terrible joke book you got me for our last birthday?"

"Hey! That book was a master-class in pun-tastic delivery!"

Dipper broke eye contact to look at his feet, a deeper sense of insecurity creeping inside of him. He sat on the railings, hunched in rejection. "Why can't we even go to Paris, or London, or Rome, like all the other kids our age?" He hesitated. "And with our parents?"

Mabel knew many things about her brother, and one of them was the ability to determine when he needed support. "Oh lighten up, Dip!" Mabel assured him, giving him a gentle but enlivening punch on the shoulder. She snuggled up beside him on the railing. "It doesn't matter if we go to Gravity Falls, Paris, or the Moon! The important thing is that whatever summer we have, we'll have it together. Right?"

This reminder was what Dipper needed. He smiled thoughtfully back at his sister. "Yeah, you're right."

"Come on," Mabel beckoned, leaping up and striding back to school, "I want to talk with all my friends about how cute that dog was!"

"Aw, man, seriously?" groaned Dipper, rolling his eyes skyward, and looking to heaven for a divine intervention he knew would not come. It was certainly not for lack of trying.

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	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Normally in schools, the teacher has some say in how the kids are positioned. In the case of virtually all students at Piedmont Middle School, they went where they were told, and that was that. There was only one seating rule all the teacher's had to live with; the Pines twins were beside each other, and at all times. It didn't matter how determined the teachers were, they were never going to split the two up. Usually a polite word at the start by Mabel to the teachers (Dipper was always much too embarrassed after having already expended his capital on asking them to never refer to him by his birth-name) would be enough, but if any substitute came in, and flipped it around for their purposes, it would consume them. The amount of notes getting passed between their desks could fill a library, and Mabel actually made quite a good habit of it, saving her favourite notes for her home scrapbooks. The dream of every teacher who had to deal with the constant interruption between the two was to point at their academic records and point out how they were struggling, but much to their bewilderment and annoyance, neither of the twins suffered academically. True, Mabel wasn't as good as Dipper, still pulling just above average in all but art, her speciality. Yet Dipper was exceptional in almost everything he did. He was the best in Science, Maths, History, English, Spanish, etc. Hence, the teachers had to reluctantly accept that they had no way to sell a break up between the twins, and that any attempt to do so would be met with a battle of attrition the likes of which had not seen since Stalingrad.

The two twins sat at their respective desks, both at the back of the room. Dipper had chosen to sit there because it was closer to the books in the corner, and Mabel followed after. Mabel had already made the most of the day, adding another one of her brightly coloured Band-Aids to her desk, the twentieth overall. Stickers it seemed were against the rules, but Band-Aids, for whatever reason, were okay. Dipper in the meantime had contented himself to place his books neatly on his spotless desk, one on top of the other to leave as much space for reading his latest book on the paranormal.

The teacher entered, putting on the least aggressive, 'Why did I ever enter teaching?' face he could get. Walking up to the centre of the room, he waited for everyone to stop talking to each other, something he never had to worry about with Dipper.

"Alright class," he said, as the voices slowly trailed, "I've been told by the principal to inform you that in three weeks time, to coincide with the end of the school year, we will hold a summer dance…"

The details for the rest of it went entirely over the heads of both of the Pines Twins. For Mabel, her face glowed in excited fulfilment, as if the prophecy of the dog had come to pass. Her whole body trembled like she was about to erupt in a fountain of bliss. She raced through her mind for appropriate dresses, etiquette, and events. Mabel had wanted this to happen for years, and now she could finally enact the plans she had been sitting on since, seemingly, forever.

"Oh my gosh, Dipper! Isn't this great!?" She glanced quickly over to him, and turned back, but the image of what she saw would force her to reluctantly look around to see him.

Dipper's eyes were as wide as saucer plates, facing the floor, one hand covering his face from the glare of the revelation, and other people. Dipper's body was slowly contorting in on itself, legs wrapping around themselves and the chair-leg. His other hand was grabbing his shorts uncomfortably tightly. Already Mabel could see that he was sweating a little. She was no expert in lip-reading, but even she could clearly make out a phrase like, "Please, no."

Whatever delight Mabel felt at the news of the dance had already evaporated. She could not bear to see her brother like this, but knew that calling attention to it in class would be far worse. So began an extremely long wait, as despite the lesson, Mabel spent more time looking at her brother than either her books, or the teacher. Dipper in this whole time never once broke his glance from the floor.

After the longest morning session either Mabel or Dipper had ever experienced, the bell finally rang for recess. Everyone hurried up to leave, the teacher especially, but Dipper stayed behind, locked at his desk. Mabel waited until the last person left, and closed the door. As soon as she did, she ran back to her brother, and leant in beside him.

"Come on Dipper!" she smiled, trying to enthuse him. "It's going to be great! We can plan it together, and I can help you get everything done, and…" She tried to keep talking, but it was no use. Dipper was not listening. Call it sibling-bond, or twin powers, but there was one thing she knew for sure: she could not be happy if she knew her brother was not.

She put her hands over his shoulders. "Hey…what's the matter bro-bro?" she asked.

"M-" Dipper choked. "M-Mabel, I don't think I can do this."

"What?!" she exclaimed, "Sure you can! Just go up to any girl you want, and say, 'Hey there, wanna go to the dance together?' She says 'yes,' and that's it!"

Dipper was not moved. His Pavolvian conditioning turned on him. The chants and taunts he had received for years regurgitated themselves, only this time, they came out of his own mouth. "I-I can't. No girl likes me. It'll be just like Valentine's Day again."

Mabel paused at the memory of that terrible day, and not even what she did for him would make up for it. That day had a powerful effect on defining Dipper's world-view. It told him a bunch of terrible things about himself he was never able to remove. It left an unalterable psychological mark Mabel still couldn't fix. It had been one of Mabel's biggest wishes, to try and make Dipper confident about himself outside of academia, but nothing could sway him.

Dipper sniffled, and held back tears. He put his head in his hands, and echoed the jibes he had received for years. "I'll never get a girlfriend. I'm ugly, I've got a freakish birthmark, and I'm weird. I-I'm just hopeless. "

Mabel's brief twinge of sorrow quickly turned to anger. She started shaking, not the good way when the dance was announced, but in an Old Testament, fire and brimstone kind of way. She stood up, marched in front of Dipper's desk, and pulled Dipper up by his shirt to face her.

"Listen bro, you are _none_ of those things. And today, you're gonna prove it! You are going to ask whatever girl you want to go to the dance _today_!"

Dipper stammered sheepishly. "B-but what if she says 'no'?"

"What does it matter? If you get a 'no' you're still in the same place as before, but if you get 'yes,' this could literally be the defining moment of your whole life! Everything to gain, and nothing to lose!"

She paused, looking at the self-doubt across Dipper's face, his eyes dejected. It hurt her, but also baffled her. "Dipper, I don't want you to listen to those people. You are handsome, you are great, and you are a genius! Why can't _you_ see you, the way that _I_ see you?"

This final sentence was enough to shake Dipper out of his despair. His eyes focused, and he slowly turned to look at his sister. He started to smile. "Thanks Mabel," he croaked, as his eyes watered.

"Come on," purred Mabel, as she dragged her brother up, "We've got work to do!"

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	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Those next few minutes were tense. Mabel and Dipper paced frantically at the far ends of the school-yard. Mabel's face was one of military determination, and Dipper's one of confusion and doubt, still wiping his face, hoping no one noticed the wet patches. Mabel was without her friends, but that hardly mattered now; she had a match to make.

"Alright," Mabel growled, "Who do you find the most attractive girl at the school?"

"Mabel!" Dipper protested. "You can't just ask things like that!"

"Sure I can! Now tell me, if you wanted any girl to go out with you, who would it be?"

Dipper paused. He knew the answer, and he was almost certain Mabel knew it as well, not that he would have ever told her before, if he ever would. That being said, it was probably the same answer most boys in the year would have given. The girl's name was Natalie Brady, a girl whom he had always associated with freshness and class; this was based off the gorgeous smell of the new clothes she wore every week. She was tall for a girl, taller than Dipper certainly, and whose confident pose held a sense of purpose that he admired and sought to imitate. She had a silvery voice, and used it for everything, no matter what her mood, a consistency that he adored. Her freed hair was a natural, passionate red, to compliment her lively, and outgoing lifestyle. Almost every day went by where he would overhear some new party or event she went to, things that Dipper had long since resigned himself to never being a part of. Maybe that's why he liked her so much; she was a gateway into a world that he envied even more than he loathed. For obvious reasons, he wasn't well acquainted with her, and had no idea if she was already with a boyfriend. It would be more accurate to say, however, he instinctively assumed she did.

Dipper continued to drag his pause, broken only by his sister asking what needed to be asked. "It's Natalie, isn't it?"

"What?! It's not Nat…" he said out of reflex, but he knew he couldn't continue the charade. He stopped mid-sentence, exhaled deeply, and nodded solemnly.

"That's great!" Mabel beamed. "Step one done! Now all we have to do is hook you two up!"

"You _must_ be joking," Dipper squirmed.

"What!? Why not?"

"Mabel! I could give everyone here a million dollars and I still wouldn't be as popular as she is! She's the most beautiful, likeable, incredible girl here! She has to have a boyfriend already!"

"No she doesn't, trust me. Even then, how do you know, if you don't ask?"

Dipper internally cursed that line. There was no way through the point, so he tried to drive around it.

"She'll never accept me. I'm short-"

"Pssht, you're a big guy!"

"For you! She'd never date me because of that."

"How do you know if you don't ask?" Mabel retorted.

He paused. She was good at this game. "I'm too weird-"

"How do you know if you don't ask?"

He stammered. "I-I'm too-"

"How do you know if you don't ask?"

Dipper was losing his mind. "I'm-"

"-Going to ask Natalie out to the dance!" his sister rejoiced. "Come on Dip, you can do this! I know you can! If you could get straight A's in everything all year, how is asking one lousy question so hard?"

Dipper's mind reeled at the enormity of the task before him. This wasn't a bunch of friendly numbers or facts anymore, this was people; the one thing he had never truly understood, and what had never understood him. On any other day, his mind would have told him to give it up again, to accept where he was, regardless of how he felt about it. But today, perhaps because of the rosy belief on his sister's face, he now had a motivation to do something that he never thought he could have done, especially not after the 'Valentine's Day Massacre', as he once called it. If Mabel could believe in him, why couldn't he?

"Alright Mabel," said Dipper, straightening up, and fixing his hat. "I _will_ ask Natalie to the dance today!" he declared, with a resolution he hadn't felt in years.

"Now that's what I want to hear!" his sister roared.

Mabel lost no time in taking out a blank piece of paper. She leaned to her eager brother with a conspiratorial glint. "Alright Dip, I know you like to plan these things out, so here's what we're gonna do, together! We'll go through class as normal, _but_ … you are actually going to write out an amazing love-letter about how beautiful she is! When class is out for lunch, I'll ask Natalie to stay behind, and you'll read your letter. Then…whamo! You ask her out, she swoons, falls madly in love with you, and you two are the talk of school at the dance!" Her voice softened. "Or, well, she could just turn you down."

Dipper glared.

"F-Forget I said that last part."

The next class was under way, and Mabel was bubbling with enthusiasm. She would occasionally turn back to her brother to see how he was getting on. He focused on the blank piece of paper below him as if locked in a staring contest. Natalie, was totally unaware of how, just two seats behind her, a boy was busting his mind trying to come up with the way to talk to her. Despite his being a genius in English, Mabel could read only two, admittedly well-written words: "Dear" and "Natalie." Dipper's pen dangled loosely over the letter, occasionally touching down, and pulled back, as if merely to move it would bring about some inspiration. As time progressed, the ticks on the clock rang louder. About five minutes before deadline, a breakthrough was reached. Dipper was beside himself with glee that he'd managed put one over on the world for once. He put the pen down to write his inspired addition: "You." He drew another blank after that, before his whole mind completely shut down. Each second felt like eternity, but when the bell rang, it still felt like time went by in an instant. Dipper was now up the creek without a paddle.

"Mabel!" he whispered, as loudly as one could with it still be described as a whisper. His eyes locked at the far end of the room, far too terrified to face his sister.

"What?"

"I couldn't think of anything to write!"

"You what!?"

"I blanked out! I don't know what to do! Game over, man! Game over! You've gotta call this whole thing off!"

The class started to get up to leave, Natalie included. Mabel struggled to decide what to do. She had no idea how someone who wrote the best poetry in class could shrivel up like that. She was now faced with her end of the bargain: Was she going to stop Natalie, like they agreed? It was a short, but terrible internal conflict, with both sides making strong cases. It was then that she noticed some hair on her sweater. It was from the dog earlier, which she had completely forgotten about. That's when she remembered that today was supposed to be the best day ever; she liked her chances now.

"I'm calling nothing off," she said defiantly.

To Dipper's horror, Mabel leapt out of her chair, and intercepted Natalie, as the rest of the class streamed out. Dipper shrunk to half his size, curling up in his chair. He grabbed his hat and pulled it down with all his might, as if it could swallow him up and get him out of there, and looked desperately back to his abandoned letter, as if the paper itself would somehow take pity on him, and pull a poem out of the ether to spare him humiliation. He looked back up to see the second last thing he ever wanted to see; Mabel pointing him out to Natalie. This was immediately followed with the very last (and yet somehow the first) thing he wanted to see; Natalie walking towards him. He impulsively jumped out of his chair to stand tall, even on his tip-toes, in a desperate attempt not to look as short as he was. It was hard to put down why, but Natalie looked more beautiful than he had ever seen her before. She was so sure, so confident, and Dipper was stumbling, grunting incomprehensibly, while dashing his eyes back and forth faster than the resetting of a typewriter.

"So," Natalie began, in what would be the first words she ever said to him directly, "Mabel says you have something to tell me?"

Dipper really, _really_ wished he didn't, but knew he did. The problem was that the words were slaughtered every time they tried to leave his throat, his mumbling the ghosts of failed conversation. His hands were buried so deep inside his pockets they were bursting through the other side, and his feet twisted on the floor, like a zombie attempting to dance. The worst thing was Natalie's reaction. She wasn't reacting positively, but most bizarrely, she wasn't even acting negatively. There was nothing for him to go on. He was flying blind in a hurricane, and the plane was doing a mayday.

In one of his eye flashes however, he looked just above Natalie's shoulder, and saw his sister. This was finally enough to get his attention on something. Mabel was calmly standing, smiling supportively, with her thumb raised in triumph. Dipper didn't know how this situation possibly constituted anything other than a defeat more total than Godzilla VS Bambi, but the way his sister looked, as if nothing was wrong, on some deeper level convinced him that he must have been doing something right. He finally breathed in one last time, and spoke:

"Look, Natalie. I know I haven't talked to you much, or maybe ever, but I want you to know you are the prettiest, coolest girl I've ever seen, and I would love it if I could take you to the dance three weeks from now."

Dipper looked to Natalie, and again it was his least favourite reaction, that being none. There was no indication of surprise, disgust, happiness, or anything, just the same puzzled expression she had when she asked what he wanted to talk about. Dipper was so confused, that for a moment he imagined he only said what he did inside his mind to try and get him out of his dilemma. Before he could end up making a bigger fool of himself, Natalie finally broke her silence, her face curling to a smile.

"Oh gosh Dipper, that's so sweet! Oh, how can I possibly turn down an offer like that? Of course I'll go to the dance with you!" She hugged him tightly, and began to walk away. "See you in three weeks!" she smiled, waving from the door. She walked off, leaving the twins alone.

Mabel exploded into ecstasy. "You did it Dipper!" She ran over to her brother to give him a thunderous pat on the back. "I always knew you could!" She focused in on his face. The pupils of his eyes were dilated so totally that all color had vanished. His mouth dangled freely, as he swayed back and forth like a small tree on a windy day. He had not reacted in any way to her praise. Even the slap didn't seem to give any reaction.

Finally, he spoke. "I-I did it…" Suddenly, he grabbed his sister and put her in a suffocating hug. He spun her around as quickly as he could. "I DID IT MABEL!" he cried. Putting his sister down, he ran up and down the room in a circle, imbued with an energy that he had never before had access to, skipping over the chairs, and laughing in delirious joy.

Mabel stood away, and let him have his moment, her hands covering her mouth, trying not to let her smile entirely devour her face. She giggled at how silly her brother was acting, but was still touched, because she knew how important this was for him.

He eventually stopped just beside her. "Thanks Mabel! I could not have done this without you!"

"No Dipper," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "This was all you. You were the one who asked Natalie out. Heck, you came up with it on the fly! And not a bad ask if I do say so myself! You were great out there, now we have to get you ready for the dance!"

"Oh, boy," Dipper said, the limitations of his energies now reasserting themselves. "I can't dance, I can't do parties, and I only have three weeks to do everything." His neurotic traits were coming back with a vengeance.

"Oh come on Dipper! Relax," his sister said. "Look, you've already done a lot today. Why don't you go on and have some fun reading your silly monster book?"

Dipper grinned again, and ran back to his desk to catch his already well-thumbed book. "It's not silly! You'll see!" he shouted glowingly back at her, as he ran out the door.

Mabel stood for a second to take in what had just happened. Who knew? Omens were indeed true. She thought that it just meant people would be a little nicer to her, or the teacher wouldn't give as much work, the latter of course, certainly never being the case. Instead, it was something much more precious to her: Her brother had finally learned to truly love himself. That's the one thing she wanted more than anything else in the world.

"Match…made!"

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	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

It was normal sibling etiquette that when a pair grew older, they would attempt to get their own separate rooms as quickly, and hopefully bloodlessly as possible. Dipper and Mabel's parents were very much of the opinion that the two would follow this basic, unwritten rule. It would greatly surprise them when they never even asked to have their own rooms, even in the stormiest of their rows. The parents ultimately didn't care, as it just meant more storage space for their own careers; their consuming, omnipresent careers. Dipper and Mabel's room certainly wasn't lacking in any real way. Two separate beds at opposite sides but identical ends of the room, a chest of shared memories and games in between, a well-worn desktop computer on a work-desk, fogged windows staring into the night, nothing to complain about. The twins however, had filled in the room with as much personality as the room could take.

Mabel's bedside had not a trace of visible wallpaper, all buried under several, chaotic layers of art projects that began when she was five. It even stretched up, and covered the ceiling with her favourites, so she could see them looking up at night. The gaps between her bed and the wall were hermetically sealed with an army of stuffed animals, each with their own unique name, and personality. Just beside her bed was a trash-can overflowing with teen girl magazines. This was certainly not because she didn't like them, on the contrary, she was always the first to get them, but knew the speed at which fashion trends changed, and had to stay up to date with everything. Her 10/10 boys had their own posters amidst the wreckage of art projects on her wall as well.

Dipper's bedside was much calmer. There was no bookshelf, so the entire underside of his bed was stuffed to bursting-point with legions of books about the mysteries of the world; ghosts, aliens, conspiracies, and the like. Mabel would often go out with friends while Dipper stayed in bed, reading his latest book. She would often return hours later, to find him reading the same book, not having moved an inch from when she last saw him. Dipper's bedside wall was filled with certificates of his own academic achievement, neatly and orderly arranged after hours of careful planning. In addition, there were the posters of the worlds he wanted to go to: the Nazca Lines, Loch Ness, and the Pyramids. He could stare at those posters for hours and drift into fantasy quick as a flash. He had good dreams.

However, on this night, neither twin was in bed. Mabel had taken a chalkboard, and brought it centre-stage, in front of three seats. In the middle seat was Dipper, note and pen on his lap, flanked on either side by a pink elephant, and a giant teddy bear (Mabel had insisted that having classmates would make it more "realistic".). Mabel stood proudly by the board, emblazoned with the humble and realistic title, 'MABEL'S GUIDE ON HOW TO GIVE DIPPER THE BEST DATE IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE!'

Dipper himself was conflicted in all this. The title of the presentation certainly held an appeal, but he wasn't used to Mabel and the board facing back at him at the same time. Usually, he would tutor her during homework with that very board. It was never a chore; he loved doing it. It made his sister happy, and it made him feel useful, but more importantly, grown-up. Not to mention, his fear of failure ("What it she says 'no'?") had morphed into an equally terrorizing fear of success ("What if I can't handle it?"). Mabel at the end of the day had friends, a social life, and a few dates under her belt, three things Dipper did not, so he trusted her implicitly with her insight into social occasions. He also prayed this wouldn't go to his sister's head, but as was often the case with his prayers, they reached the office, the guy at the desk saw his name, and threw it into the incinerator.

Mabel marched in front of the board like a drill sergeant, holding her toy golf club like a pointer-stick. "Ladies and gentlemen!" she began, "Dipper! Tooty the Elephant! Berry the Bear! We have a match to make! Dipper is going on a date with the most popular girl in school, Natalie Brady, and it's our job to make sure that his date goes as smooth as a warm puppy! We are going to make sure this is the best date in the History of the Universe!"

"Uh," Dipper said, putting his hand up, "Do we have to make it 'The Best Date in the History of the Universe'? I'm cool with it just being a good one."

Mabel gasped. "Now that's just about enough from you, Dipper! We don't want you to hurt Dipper's chances out there! Leave Dipper out of this!"

Dipper stared in blank confusion, before nodding curtly, surrendering to the madness.

"Now," Mabel continued, "We have to analyse our target! Natalie Brady!" She swung the chalkboard upside down to reveal the other side. It had a labelled diagram of Natalie, her friend group, and her interests.

"Wait," Dipper interrupted again, "Why did you write 'Redhead-of course'?"

Mabel smirked. "We all know it's kinda your thing, bro. Watching 'The Little Mermaid' with me all the time for 'the plot'? Yeah, right!"

Dipper was speechless, and gasped for a response, but Mabel left him no time.

"Now! Let's see who we're up against! We have her main friend group, two girls, Samantha, and Trissa. I've studied countless 90s High School movies on the subject, and have come to the conclusion that the most popular girl at school will always be flanked by an ethnically diverse group of two or three hang-on girls, who only exist to make the popular girl look cooler. They rarely have any dialogue, so we probably won't have to worry about them."

"Right…" Dipper nodded, taking down notes studiously.

"Now, we've got to work on your strengths, and your weaknesses. Fortunately, we have a lot of time to work on the latter. Mabel will leave no stone unturned to make you Casanova 2: Electric Boogaloo!"

"Uh," Dipper asked awkwardly, "Is it okay for you to spend _a lot_ of time working on me, because, you know, I kinda need it? Am I being a bad brother or anything for taking up so much of your time with _my_ relationship issues?"

Mabel moved forward, surrendering the pleasure of teacher-dom for the pleasure of a moment with her brother, face cracking up in smile. "You? A bad brother? Ha! I could never have gotten anywhere without your teaching! B in Maths? Pfft, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be able to count to B! Or that time you shaved your head to ruin your own school photo, because you didn't think to give me your beanie?"

"That…was kinda stupid," Dipper chuckled.

"You've got everything, bro! You've got the looks, the charm, the only thing you need is the confidence! Come on, get up!"

Mabel grabbed Dipper and pulled him to the middle of the board, and positioned him exactly. "Now Dipper," she said assuredly, "I'm going to teach you how to make 'The Move'! Right, so I saw it in a movie one time, see? The girl is walking by, she trips over, the guy catches her, lifts her back up, and pulls her close to him. She swoons, and bam, match made! Alright, are you ready?"

"What do you mean?" Dipper asked worriedly.

"Let's test it!"

"Wait, what?!"

"I'll just be minding my own business, I'll walk on by, you trip me, catch me, and pull me close, just like you would with Natalie!"

"Mabel, I can't just trip you!"

"Sure you can! You'll catch me, and that'll be that. I swear, if you pull that move off, she be after you so bad you'll have to get the cops!"

" _Why is that a good thing?!_ "

Mabel didn't answer. She was already walking back to the end of the room, to start the experiment. "Ready, Dip?"

Dipper sighed. His sister had been right before, why not now? "Alright, sure, go ahead."

Mabel strutted forward, whistling and humming to herself. Dipper readied himself. It took titanic will, overcoming every instinctive reaction he had, but with all his concentration, he managed to find the will to stick his leg out, and trip her.

He forgot about the catching part though.

Mabel fell on face-first the carpet, leading to an indescribably awkward silence. Dipper, after an excruciating paralysis, his eyes bulging, slowly and obediently walked back to his seat, shamed by the witnessing of his stuffed classmates. He lifted up his notepad, and wrote:

"Note: DO NOT ATTEMPT 'THE MOVE' AT ALL COSTS"

Mabel reared her dizzy head. "Uh, on second thought, maybe we should focus on something else, for now," she groaned, collapsing back to the earth.

She was going to need a lot of training music…

DQ HOHSKDQW QHYHU IRUJHWV…


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

For the next two weeks, it was a training program to match Rocky in the Pines household. Mabel would not give Dipper a minute's respite, mostly because he needed all the help he could get. Every section of the date was gone over in minute detail: how to hold her arm, how to drink the punch, and at what angle, what dance goes with what song, what if terrorists stormed the building, etc. Every night, Dipper got a little bolder, a little smoother, and a little more excited. He hadn't seen Mabel prepare for whoever her date was, for whatever reason, but didn't really take much thought about it. It was coming together, piece by piece.

Dipper got the best clothes his parents' money could buy, and Mabel just borrowed her old dress, a fluffy pink eyesore covered in flowers, with a heart-shaped tiara so distracting it brought physical pain to the cornea. Dipper couldn't stand the constricted nature of the suit, but didn't care, as it was just one step on the road to his ultimate goal; being a socially accepted, popular kid, with a girlfriend. This passion was making him stay awake until 2:00AM, and getting up at 6:00AM, without any appreciable affect on his body. All the popular kids in school had started to wave at him, and Natalie was always giving him the biggest, goofiest smiles whenever he walked by. She was as radiant as a siren. She was still in his thoughts that night, when Mabel was giving out her latest lesson. His food tasted better, the air felt fresher, and everything in the world just felt right.

That's when he started noticing some changes coming across Mabel. Mabel wasn't as active as she was before. She wasn't going out with her friends very much, and spoke in an increasingly tired, grouchy voice. It got to the stage he didn't want to spend a whole lot of time around his sister anymore, with that attitude. Dipper didn't want to say it, but it was too obvious to ignore, especially less than a week until the endgame.

"Alright" she sighed, "So we've gone through dancing, drinking, kissing and other miscellaneous hanky-panky fire, alien invasion, now all we've got to do is go over Calvin."

"Wait," Dipper asked, suddenly snapped to attention by the familiar name, "You mean Calvin from our class?"

"Yeah, he was Natalie's boyfriend until recently. Something must have happened though, since she took you to the dance instead."

Dipper raised an eyebrow. "Wait a minute, so you thought when I was asking Natalie, that she already had a boyfriend?"

"Well, yeah, I guess."

Dipper was taken aback. "Mabel! Why didn't you tell me she already had a boyfriend?"

"Well she didn't!" she retorted aggressively. "You're taking her to the dance instead, right? What does it matter?"

"It means you lied to me! You said she didn't have a boyfriend!"

"And she didn't!"

"But you thought she did!"

"Ugh," Mabel growled, throwing the golf-club to the floor. "I've done this thing for weeks! Are we going to do this now?"

"Yeah! I guess we are!" Dipper threw back.

"Fine!" Mabel shouted, reversing direction, and turning to the door. "Enjoy the rest of your not-lessons. If you're sick of me, I'm done!"

"Fine!" Dipper defiantly declared, as his sister slammed the door behind her.

Awkward silence filled the room, as Dipper marched back to his bed to lie down. He wasn't scared at this point. He already had all he needed to know, even knowing to watch out for Calvin, the principal's son, and alpha-male of the class. Dipper still didn't know what Natalie saw in him over Calvin, but that was one mystery he didn't want to focus too much on.

Speaking of which, Dipper took out his monster book, and started reading to clear his mind. His blood pressure being so high, he felt it a good idea to open the window as well, giving a much needed blast of cold air.

A few minutes later, he heard a cadre of footsteps marching along outside. It was much too early for his parents, going on another date that ate into what little time they spent home, so he listened in. The sounds stopped just outside the door, before he heard a knock coming from it. Mabel answered before he could get up, so he sat back down, and waited to hear if the conversation was worth listening to.

It was Mabel's friends, a topic he felt total apathy about.

"Hi Mabel!" one of them said. "We're gonna go out to the movies together! Wanna come?"

Dipper didn't want to hear this.

Mabel paused for a while, before sighing. "I'm sorry guys, not tonight."

Dipper _really_ didn't want to hear Mabel's hissy fit being broadcasted to her friends. He lifted his arm to close over the window.

"Who's your date anyways? Is he handsome?" Mabel's friends asked.

Dipper finally got his hand in position to close it.

"I don't have a date," Mabel confessed.

Dipper's hand froze. This was an answer he would never have thought he'd hear in a million years. He squinted in confusion, before sitting up, and pressing his ear to the window.

"What?" her friends asked in equal confusion. "But we know a bunch of boys asked you out!"

"I know, but I had to turn them down. I have something more important to take care of."

"Dipper?!" they asked, in shock.

"…Yeah."

Dipper was thunderstruck, and could barely register what he was hearing.

"Look," Mabel said, the energy drained from her voice. "I know you're surprised. I wanted one of these school dance things to happen for years. I had it all planned out. Who I wanted to be asked out by, in what order, you know? But then I saw my brother's face, and I knew what it meant to him. Dipper's…had a hard time in school. Not with grades, but with people. He didn't get any letters on Valentine's Day a few years back, and he still feels awful about it. I still remember the exact look on his face when he looked into his little bag and didn't find anything. At that moment, I knew that the last thing I ever wanted to see was that my brother with that face again. He changed a lot after that; he isn't as confident as he used to be. I'll always have dates; I don't have to worry about that. But Dipper beats himself up about it so much, that I worry about him. I even ended up pushing him to ask Natalie when I thought she had a boyfriend, because there was just a chance she didn't. I want him to be confident, heck I just want him to be accept himself for once, and if I can make sure this date works out, I'll be the happiest girl in the world. I'm sorry guys, but family comes first."

Dipper slowly closed over the window. He couldn't take it anymore. He curled up in his bed, covering his face at how egregiously he treated his sister, on the brink of tears. A visceral amount of self-hatred swept over him, blaming himself for robbing Mabel of her happiness. He was utterly ashamed at how he erupted at her just a few minutes before. He cast his eyes across the room, looking at the chairs, the tests, the clothes, the golf club, the chalkboard, the books, the rom-com DVDs, and all the rest. He realized in that moment how he much his sister had spent trying to make him feel happy on the big day.

He had to return the favour.

Slowly walking down the stairs one inaudible step at a time, he peered through the banister, and into the darkness of the living room, to see his sister. She sat on the couch; her weary head was perched upon her hands, hunched in solitude and emptiness, and a frown, a thing unnatural on Mabel, was sealed upon her face. Dipper walked on in, but Mabel didn't acknowledge it, even when he turned on the lights, and sat just beside her. He scanned her for any reaction, but he found none. He had to change that.

"Hey, Mabel? It's okay, I know why you lied, and you're right, I did kinda need it. If it wasn't for you, I'd be counting all the days until the dance, and then crying alone, eating ice cream or something! But you gave me the push I needed to get to where I wanted to go. Going out on a date with the most popular girl in school?! That's crazy, and I couldn't have done it without you. Thanks Mabel, you're the best sister in the world."

Mabel turned, and smiled bashfully, too tired for words, her warmth reasserting itself.

"And don't worry!" Dipper said. "I already know what to do if Calvin gives me any trouble."

"What's that?" she asked.

"You go up, and ask him, 'What did the fingers say to the face?' Then he's all like, 'What?' and then you're like 'Smack!' and you punch him in the jaw!"

Mabel laughed, and then Dipper laughed.

"Look," he said, calming down, "It's late, shouldn't we go to bed? Only a few days to go, and all?"

"Yeah," Mabel warmly but tiredly agreed.

"Oh Mabel," Dipper interjected, "Do you…want me to read you a bed-time story? Like I used to?"

Mabel raised her eyebrows. "You haven't given me a bedtime story in years! The last time was when I was in the hospital."

"Yeah," Dipper smiled, remembering the absurdity of the operation to remove the plastic dinosaur she had ingested as part of her ingenious 'Mabel Juice'. "But…I'd like to."

Mabel paused, before smiling as well. "I'd like that too. Just don't give me any of that spooky stuff you read all the time!"

"Alright, what do you want me to read?"

"Can't you just read me the articles of my 'Girlz Today' magazine? I'd like that."

Dipper screamed internally. He wanted to run a mile away, but the tiredness and thankfulness of Mabel's eyes convinced him. The groan was seized in his throat.

"Sure thing, Mabel," he said with only a half-forced smile. If she could sacrifice her dates, he could read a crumby magazine.

ORYH LV SDWLHQW, ORYH LV NLQG


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

It was the night he'd planned for three weeks, but dreamed about for years. Dipper was finely adjusting every aspect of his clothes with his sister's help, the bow, the shoes, the jacket, whether to tuck in, what to tuck in, etc. His face was imbued with an immortal smile, but that wasn't to say his nerves were at ease. His hands shook, and he took to running on the spot to try and expend his seemingly limitless energy. It may have been a normal tuxedo, but to him, it was the key to entering his dream world; not just one with a girlfriend, but one with friends at all. Mabel was still dressed for the occasion, in her long, pink, flowery dress and tiara, but that meant little to her at this point. She helped him like an overbearing mother, still going through every scenario that had been conceived.

"If she asks you if the dress makes her look fat?"

"Always say it doesn't."

"If she asks you what your hobbies are?"

"Definitely not monster-hunting."

"If she asks you what two historical figures you'd most like to have dinner with?"

"Ghandi, to look deep, and Kobe Bryant, to look cool."

"That's the style Dipper! She'll be in love with you in no time!"

She stared proudly at her reinvented brother. He was standing confidently, without his hat, exuding a hitherto unknown charisma. She was amazed at the transformation that had occurred in the past three weeks. Yet it felt like they forgot something.

Mabel gasped. "Dipper! We nearly forgot the lip balm!"

She reached into her pocket, and pulled it out to offer to her brother.

"Thanks Mabel, that was a close one!" Dipper said, as he took it, turned to the mirror, lifted his hair, and faced his birthmark.

Like every time he had to do a photo, or any formal occasion, he borrowed his sister's lip balm, and erased the mistake of his birth, if only for a while. He pressed the balm just beside it, before feeling something he had never felt in years. He remembered when he and Mabel were only toddlers, and how Mabel would love his birthmark, and was fascinated by it. He was quite proud of it then, but when he went to school, and showed it off, he was roundly laughed at, and made to feel ashamed of it. The shame had long since buried any feelings of glee when he looked at his unique imprint. His most frequent wish at the wishing wells was to get rid of it, but it never went. Despite all the pain he had felt about it, suddenly, it didn't feel so bad anymore. Now, a girl, the most popular in class, had suddenly decided that he was handsome enough to go to the dance. He felt like it was time to stop running, and be proud of his appearance.

He put the balm back, and turned to face his sister. "Actually Mabel," he smiled, "I don't think I need it anymore."

Mabel was taken aback for a second, before she saw what had gone on in her brother's mind. In one brief but glorious instance, she knew that all her work had paid off. She took it back, and patted him on the shoulder, barely containing her pride at his growth. "That's what I want to hear, Dipper. Awkward sibling-hug?"

Dipper gave a sure nod, and the ceremony proceeded.

"Pat! Pat!"

They laughed, though the buzz of the taxi outside shook them to their senses.

Mabel looked out the window. "He's here already! We didn't even have time to practice the dance moves one more time!"

"Relax, sis," said Dipper smoothly. "You've been a great teacher. I can't wait to show you how well I've learned everything for tonight! Oh man! Just you wait and see! I'll be the best dancer there!"

Mabel looked back warmly. She liked seeing Dipper this confident. "Alright Dip, let's go."

"Promise to be my wing-girl?"

Mabel giggled. "Yeah. If you're in trouble, I'll help you, okay?"

They entered the taxi together, and made the short drive there. Mabel, in spite of being dateless, was still as excited as could be. Dipper on the other hand, had the sheer insanity of the situation sink in; he was about to go on a date with the most popular girl in school. That was no hyperbole, but would have been incomprehensible to him just earlier in the month. His confidence battled with his nervousness. He shut his palms together between his legs to try and contain the shaking. He patted his feet against the car, and rolled around in his seat. He counted down every street on his way to the school. It was surreal even to be out at this time to him; adding a date onto it was stranger than any monster he had about.

They reached the penultimate street. Dipper had retreated into his neurotic state, thinking about all the things that could go wrong. He imagined a well-fleshed out scenario where he knocked over Natalie, or got into a fight. Each new scenario he imagined seemed more plausible than the last. His body was not ready for the time they reached the front of the school. He could see the lights of the school were on, shining through the banner advertising the dance, and one could hear the music even from inside the car. Yet what caught his attention the most was Natalie confidently resting against the gates in front of him. She had an incredible violet dress that obviously cost a significant portion of any Average Joe's monthly salary. She was like a siren beckoning him to the Promised Land, even having the pearls around her neck to prove it. Samantha and Trissa flanked her, dressed in pale imitations of their ringleader. Dipper barely noticed them, but Mabel looked at them anxiously.

This was it. This was Judgement Day.

He slowly exited the car, rationalizing every step he took, with Mabel close behind. Dipper remembered the walk he went over with Mabel; how high to lift the arms, his pace, and amazingly, he was performing it perfectly. He walked up to Natalie, awakening her from her slumber along the gate. She was wearing heels, and now had near Amazonian proportion over Dipper.

She curled a smile reserved for mostly for puppies. "Aw Dipper!" she said, "You look amazing! You are so cute tonight!"

"You look great too, Natalie!" Dipper rattled through his opening salvo of lines he had religiously gone over with Mabel. "Boy, it's a perfect night, and you sure do go with it!"

She guffawed. "You are _too_ nice."

Dipper continued. "Well, nice night and all, but let's not just stand here 'til morning!"

"You are so right!" Natalie smiled, her fruity voice soothing whatever fears Dipper had. This was going better than he thought it would, but more importantly, it _felt_ even better than he thought it would. All this fascination with being one of the popular kids, being in that world he had been shut out from, had left a great mystery about what it would be like, and Dipper Pines was no one to take mystery lightly.

He could confirm that it felt good.

"Oh, Mabel!" Natalie said. "Sam and Trissa have something to show you out back! You won't mind if me and Dipper go inside for just a few minutes, right?"

Mabel's eyes widened, and she looked back to Dipper, who looked back to her. This certainly wasn't in the plan. The only question now was what they were going to do.

Dipper stood up to the plate. "It's alright Mabel. I think I can handle being on my own for a few minutes!"

Mabel reluctantly smiled and nodded. "Show me what?" she asked, turning back to Natalie.

"Oh," Natalie smiled, "That would ruin the surprise! But trust me, you'll love it!"

Mabel nodded, as Samantha and Trissa escorted her away from her brother. They gave a conspiratorial smirk to each other, and led Mabel down the side of the school. Just as she passed the corner, she looked back to her brother. Dipper was walking arm-in-arm with Natalie, eyes locked in shy affection at the girl beside him. He looked to where Mabel was, and gave a quick, hearty wave, to let her know it was okay. Mabel wondered why she didn't feel the same way.

QDWDOLH LV QRW ZKDW VKH VHHPV


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

Arm in arm, Dipper and Natalie entered the revamped gym, now turned into the dance hall for the night. Dipper was struck by the luminous purple glaze that greeted him through the doors, as the light became one with Natalie's dress, and he entered a new world. The decibels of run-of-the-mill pop-music from the speakers beat his chest like a hammer, yet after a few blasts, it became an almost pleasant sensation. Dipper would normally have hated this music, and written a dissection to prove how awful it was, but tonight, it didn't sound so bad. The whole class was there, some dancing together, some awkwardly scouting the surroundings, and others confidently scouting the surroundings. At the end of the hall was the DJ for the night. Dipper could not see his face, but he could tell that it was not an adult; bizarrely, Dipper could not see any adults.

"Where're the grown-ups?" he asked aloud.

"Aw Dipper, we have _you_! What do we need grown-ups for?" Natalie smiled.

Dipper giggled childishly. He was certainly not immune to flattery, and the question left his mind.

Just in front of them was a collection of four-foot wide tables, all fairly rickety, tied together, and stretching the entire length of the gym. On it was enough refreshments of food and drink to satiate an army, though whether it was enough for a class of twelve year olds on prom was another matter. Dipper had thoroughly rehearsed his routine with Mabel, and knew to go to the snack table first, to put her at ease for the night; Dipper knew however, that he was the one who really need to calm down. Thankfully, Natalie seemed to be walking in that direction just as earnestly, to the punch bowl in fact.

Reaching it, she poured the nearby red cup to an overflowing brim, while Dipper took his time to feel the sensation of a girl locking arms with him. It gave him a glorious buzz that tapped into emotions that before this night were alien to his senses. Even now felt like victory.

Natalie took her cup, walked out, before turning to face Dipper. She slinked her arm loose, and gave him a look of cartoonish glee. "Oh my gosh Dipper, you're just so handsome, I can't contain myself! I have to kiss you now!"

"What?!" Dipper jumped. His mind imploded. His body squeezed in on itself. He started to shake. None of the scenarios he had envisioned went like this. He re-entered the chronic awkwardness that characterized his first interaction. He looked back and forth on all sides, hoping to see Mabel give him a helpful hint, but his sister was MIA.

"Oh silly, just close your eyes, stretch out your lips, and I'll do the rest!"

Dipper's mind was fried, but he slowly, and enthusiastically disciplined himself to follow Natalie's sacred orders. He hunched forward, and closed his eyes, with hands grasped together behind his back. He squeezed his lips together with a force strong enough to crush rock, pushing them out. A bead of sweat rolled down his temple, and he held his breath. What goes through a young boy's mind when their first kiss is so imminent? Let alone one called on such short notice? Let alone to one who expected it to elude him his whole life? This was winning the lottery on Christmas, this was finding a four-leaved clover on a horseshoe, and this was the final step on the stairway to heaven. His heart pounded his ribcage so bad it could bruise, but as the music seemingly stopped, his lips were electric with anticipation.

The response would come not on his lips, but in his chest, and not from his heart's side. With the force of a cannon ball, he felt a blast so hard against his ribcage, that it knocked the wind out of him. Dipper slipped backwards, and felt the almighty crush of his back against the table, and it would not hold. He plummeted down the crack he had created, before, hitting the floor. Any attempt to make sense of what happened was halted by the thunderous blast of the punch bowl, as it plunged down the gap, and striking his temple. It acted, at the least, as temporary anaesthesia to the blast of cold juice that enveloped the entirety of his body below the neck, the bowl rolling along his arm, and onto the floor. As soon as his short daze had gone, his body awoke to the agonizing cold that shrouded him, but the pain was so paralysing that he could not get up, speak, or even breathe. He could not see anything amidst the glare of purple at the ceiling, but he knew something now for sure; the music didn't seemingly stop, it had stopped. He hadn't the control of thought to realize the implications.

Coming through the haze, he could see an outstretched hand. It was the silky, bare hand of Natalie. This realization gave Dipper motivation enough to lift his damp, quivering hand to greet her. He was so stunned by everything that had happened, the fall, the strike to the head, and the immersion, that nothing had sunk in. He was trapped in the dark, and looked to the light to get out. As his hand reached out, Natalie's own slinked back into the haze. Her other hand came out, and stretched directly above him. Dipper attempted to lift his head to see what was going on. Before he could, he felt the icy slink of a full glass of juice tear down his head. In one horrible moment, everything made sense: Why Natalie had accepted his offer, why there were no grown-ups, why Mabel was taken away. He came to realize what a fool he had been. He had entered a deep, dark pit, and this time, his sister wasn't there to help him, and the horror had only just begun.

He looked up, his senses having rebounded enough that he could see Natalie. All the affection had drained from her face, replaced with an icy contempt that he had never seen in her before. He could hear a cacophony of laughter start to build, made unbearable in the absence of all other sound. He saw a silhouette emerge behind Natalie. At first he recognized him as the DJ. But as he drew closer, Dipper made a stark realization. He saw the slim jeans, flashy shoes, and modern t-shirt. He saw the sandy-blonde hair, the palest blue eyes, and the contemptuous smile of an alpha-male to an Untermensch. It was Calvin. Slowly, his friend group, some five more people, merged beside him. Now the laughter had faces to go with it.

Dipper struggled to right himself, managing to crawl out of the wreckage, and onto his knees. He knelt stationary, as his abusers stood around him like a firing squad. He hadn't the strength to look at their faces anymore. Each laugh tore deep into his soul, which he had been foolish enough to expose on the night. But of all the laughter that hurt the most, the worst was Natalie's.

"Hey Calvin!" said Natalie. "Why don't you show Dipper what he missed?"

"No sweat babe," Calvin replied, before wrapping his arms around her, and kissing her selfishly. Natalie clearly enjoyed it, but Dipper knew it was the feeling of his humiliation that she enjoyed most.

"Natalie," he whispered, the will for anything more having abandoned him, "Why are you doing this?"

For the first time he could ever remember, Natalie's silvery voice was no longer there, replaced by a poisonous voice that felt like it had been repressed for years. She broke off her kiss, and swung around. "Where do I _possibly_ begin with you? That blotchy nose? Those noodle arms? Those horrific bags under your eyes? No, let's start a little closer to home. Do you know how many times my parents, and the teacher, have all stood up to me and gone, ' _Hey Natalie! Why can't you be more like Dipper Pines?'_ I'll tell you why. Dipper Pines is a dweeb, Dipper Pines couldn't hold a normal human conversation if his life depended on it, and Dipper Pines walks around like he's thirty years old, precocious as heck, supposedly the most mature person here…and then he spends all day reading his stupid books about monsters and ghosts, like he's six! I must say though, you're far more likely to find any of those made-up monsters and goblins you never shut up about, than get a human girlfriend. Why would anyone ever want to be Dipper Pines? Even you?"

With each accusation, Dipper subconsciously told himself that they were true. Why would _he_ want to be him? He could think of no rebuttal, no response, only the fail-safe sentence that he and Mabel had come up with to say when all had gone wrong. He knew it was a lost cause, but as a last defiant act against reality, he pushed.

"Natalie," he croaked, now on the verge of tears, "I love you."

The mocking laughter intensified to hysterical proportions amongst those before him, and once again, it was Natalie's who stung the most. Dipper looked around the hall to find his sister. She was not there. He only saw the awkward faces of students who shied their heads from what they were seeing. He found himself entirely without support, without friends, much like he had always been.

"Wow, Dipstick!" Calvin sneered in his gravelly voice. "You've got some nerve saying that in front of a guy's girlfriend. I must say, I was as shocked as you must have been when Natalie told me who she was going out with, but when she explained how it was going to go down, I knew this was too priceless to miss!"

Dipper did not pay attention. By now, he was sitting in the foetal-position, panting wildly, shaking not just from the cold, or the now palpable cut on his temple, but from the anxiety that overwhelmed him. Even amidst the wetness that drenched him from head to toe, the two burning streams down his face were impossible to contain. He still looked in vain for his sister.

"Oh, Dipstick," Natalie smirked, as she knelt down beside him, leaning into his ear. "Your sister doesn't care about you. The only reason she puts up with such a useless dork for a brother is because you do all her homework. If you weren't smart she would have left you for dead the moment she entered Junior High. Come to think of it, she'd probably be pretty popular if it wasn't for you. Oh yeah, and she wouldn't have blown her date on a lost-cause, ego-trip like this. I guess you can add her to the list of people you make suffer."

Dipper lost all control. He sobbed even louder than the abusers laughed, and for a brief moment exposed his hairline. "That's…not…" he spluttered, before he lost power over his voice, and broke down again.

Natalie stared at Dipper, and then her laughter slowly stopped, as her eyes widened inversely. "No way!" she ecstatically announced. She grabbed his hairline, and pulled it back, brandishing his undisguised birthmark to a crowd that had not seen it in such clarity before.

"You didn't use the girl's make-up like you always do?" Natalie snickered, before she stopped in serendipitous revelation. "No! You didn't cover it because you honestly thought I'd find it cute!"

At this, the group rang out laughter so loud that it could be heard to echo in the hall. Natalie fell backwards, nearly hurting herself from laughing so hard. She pointed enthusiastically. "This is your chance guys! Take pictures! You might never get this opportunity again!"

Normally when Dipper was bullied into having his birthmark revealed, he would run away, or pull himself out of trouble. This time, as he felt the blasts of camera-light against his eyes, he did nothing to stop it. He allowed them to mock him, ridicule him, and taunt him. At this point, he told himself that he deserved it. No one had ever gone so far as to take a picture of his birthmark, and now it was already too late. It was now going to get circled around hundreds, if not thousands of times before the night was over online. His shame was going to follow him everywhere, forever. There would be no escape from the curse of his birth. And all those joyous memories in the last few weeks, the cringe-inducing, though heart-warming memory of winning the heart of the most popular girl in school, the ramshackle training with his sister to make sure the night was a success, the nights he spent fantasizing about this night, all of them were tainted and corrupted. The worst part was not that he was so far from being popular; it was that he thought he already was.

Due to the lack of any sounds but sneering, and his own sobbing, Dipper was startled by the sound of the doors to his right being flung open, and smashing against the walls. He glanced in a fright, to finally see his sister bursting through, Samantha and Trissa running behind. As Mabel stopped, however, Samantha and Trissa stopped too. Mabel looked directly at her brother. She was much too shocked to take in anyone else. She looked at the decrepit state of her brother, eyes racked with tears, bleeding from his forehead, body locked in pain, and shaking as if he were a broken boy. The laughter had stopped, and the entire gym started in bated anticipation as to what would come next.

Dipper stumbled to his feet, and faced his sister. As he stared at her in shame, he could already see that she was on the verge of tears. He had caused enough misery for the day. Dipper ran as fast as he could past Mabel, covering his face in his arms, and through the doors, hoping no one would ever find him.

Mabel was too stunned to follow, but had enough strength within herself to look as he went, to see the look of trauma, dejection, and loss on his face, and the scornful smiles on Samantha and Trissa's face as he went by. Mabel's sadness was short lived, before it was replaced by a thermonuclear rage, she clenched both of her fists, and marched to Natalie, who craned herself back up, and folding her arms, confident in her height advantage over Mabel.

Mabel stopped right in front of her. "What did you do to my brother!?"

Natalie rolled her eyes. "I made him feel the same way he made me feel for years. He made me feel terrible, so I gave him a little back. Oh, and Calvin and the boys got some great pictures of that little doodle on his head."

Mabel gritted her teeth. "You are evil."

Natalie snorted. "Look at yourself, Mabel. You could have had any date you wanted at the dance here tonight. And yet you came with none. Why? Because you were babysitting your hopeless brother, and look how that turned out. Mabel, you can be so much more than a duo with some dweeb who has literally nothing in common with you. Heck, you got him into this situation with your pushing him to be more than he is. Maybe you should just accept that he isn't made for anything but counting numbers, and just leave him behind. Growing up, you know? Come on Mabel, it's a choice between being in the most popular clique on the block, or being five forever. What do you say?"

Natalie saw Mabel look at the ground, especially after she pointed out how Mabel had gotten Dipper into this mess in the first place. She could see Mabel struggling with questions inside her head, and knew within herself that she was coming around. Natalie smiled contentedly, knowing she was going to deliver the final victory over the boy she wished she never heard about.

"Natalie," Mabel asked quietly, not looking up, "Before I say, can I ask you a question?"

Natalie smirked triumphantly. "Of course, Mabel."

Mabel's head shot up with a venomous look. "What did the fingers say to the face?"

Natalie looked in confusion. "What?"

"SMACK!"

Mabel delivered a booming right hook, as Natalie nearly left her heels on the ground, blasted backwards from the impact. As her feet returned to the ground, they found no traction on the juice-drenched floor, leading to her legs flying with frantic, directionless, and ultimately futile efforts to keep upright. She fell backwards into the half-filled punchbowl, drenching her entire lower back in the cold substance that her former date had been a few minutes ago. Though Dipper was so paralysed he couldn't make a sound, Natalie delivered a deafening scream that put any of the laughter or sobbing a few minutes ago to shame. There was indeed laughter this time though, not from the now horrified Trissa, Samantha, Calvin, and his friends, or even the stunned Mabel, but the masses in attendance, as their resentment to the clique spilled out naturally, healthily, and openly. They would continue to be entertained, as Natalie leapt out of the bowl, and ran around the gym much too fast for any heels to carry. She slipped again, and slid a graceful several feet in her dress, with her horrified admirers coming behind to help her.

Mabel stared at her hand in amazement. This was the first time she had ever punched anyone in her life. Any guilt was quickly, and brutally eliminated. If there was ever someone who deserved the distinction of being punched in the face by Mabel Pines, Natalie surely met it.

Natalie herself crawled over to her side, livid with the laughter around her, the flaccid attempts of her companions to comfort her, but most of all with Mabel. With a demonic fury, she screamed, "Mabel Pines, I will massacre you! You will need the police to stop me from hunting you down! I will make your life miserable from this day until your last!"

No matter how vitriolic the attacks against her, Mabel wasn't listening. She walked back to the door, ignoring the incitement, and left to find her brother.

"DOO ULJKW, WKHQ L'OO JR WR KHOO!"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Mabel ran to each and every door in her path. She called her brother's name, placed her ear to the wood, peered in every crevice she could find, and moved to the next with an intense, and deep down, guilty desperation. She chased as if her life depended on it, because there was precisely one person she blamed for this disaster, and it wasn't Natalie; it was herself. Natalie's words had deeply stung her when she accused Mabel of dragging her brother into this, and the worst part was that she was right. Mabel had not only pushed her brother to go to this dance, not only did she push him to go with Natalie, but she withheld information that might have stopped this from happening. She always had a connection to Dipper, and when she was being escorted by Natalie's footsoldiers, she felt within herself that something was totally wrong, and she was possessed to rescue her brother, only to find out it was too late, her second crime. Now, she raced around the halls in blind anxiety, looking for her heartbroken sibling.

She heard a noise coming from their classroom. She stopped and listened in. It was not a voice, but the sound of agonized weeping. She crept towards the door, and placed her ear to it. Despite not hearing anything but pained sorrow, she knew instantly it was Dipper. She silently opened the door, and looked in.

Illuminated in the moonlight, she could glance to the end of the room, to see Dipper, sitting at his desk. It was the only place in school he had ever found safety; beside his sister, and only the teacher to care about. Friends didn't matter here. Dipper buried his face into his arm on the desk, though it didn't little to dampen the noise of the crying. His other arm latched onto the back of his head, and painfully pulled the back of his hair, as if he felt he deserved it. His body was ramshackle, and limp. Mabel could not recall a time in her life when she saw her brother in such a state. Not even Valentine's Day had left such a painful indent on his mind. Perhaps it was that he felt so close to finding happiness, or perhaps it was the sensation appearing a second time, but what was doubtless was that what had started as Dipper's road to salvation had led to his mental destruction.

Mabel, however, would not give up on her brother. Not now, and not ever. She slowly walked down the room towards him. Her heart broke to see him in such a state, and she felt teary herself. She sat down at her nearby desk, and pushed her desk towards him.

Dipper finally noticed her presence. He jumped, but quickly shielded his face from further humiliation. "Leave me alone!" he screamed, contorting himself to face towards the window, and away from his sister.

Mabel did not oblige, and connected the two desks.

"I said leave me alone!" Dipper yelled, turning to face his sister, barely able to construct a sentence through the tears.

Before he could turn back, his sister immediately, and tightly hugged him. It was this one small token that brought him back to reality. He paused, and the realization of what he was doing made him cry again, only into his sister's dress. "Mabel, I'm so sorry…"

"You have nothing to be sorry about," Mabel assured him.

"Yes I do!" he burbled. "Did you not see all those people laughing at me? Calvin, his friends…Natalie?"

"Forget about them Dipper."

"Natalie was right. I am pathetic. I'm 12 years old, nearly 13. I have no friends, I spend all my time reading about these stupid monsters that aren't real, I don't have a girlfriend now, I'll never have one until the day I die. I've never been kissed, and I never will be. Apart from adding some crumby numbers together, I'm totally useless. I'm going to be laughed at for the rest of my life. I'm just terrible."

Mabel was as livid with the way Dipper described himself as she would be if Natalie had said it. "Dipper, listen to me. I don't care if everyone laughs at you. I don't care if nobody believes in you. I don't care if you fail every test. You will _never_ stop being my brother, you will _never_ stop being the coolest guy I know, and you will _never_ stop being my best friend."

Dipper's eyes widened. "Best friend?"

Mabel smiled. "Come on bro-bro. Remember when I went to the hospital, and you did your silly Lamby dance in front of everyone to make me feel better? Or camped at night on the floor to read me bedtime stories, because you couldn't imagine us being apart for a few days? Remember when I got that medal on sport's day, and mom and dad didn't show up, so you pretended to be them, and praised me in character? No one's ever been nicer, kinder, and caring than you've been to me. You've always helped me when I felt down, you've always been here for me, and I'll always be here for you, don't forget that. Think you have no friends? You've had your best friend from the day you were born."

She pulled back to look Dipper straight into his damp eyes. "You aren't terrible, Dip. You just feel terrible. This isn't you. I know who Dipper Pines really is. He's the smartest boy around, he has a brilliant imagination, he's always kind to others, he helps other people when they're down, and he will go on to do beautiful, beautiful things with his life. And Dipper, just because Natalie can't see any of that doesn't mean she's right."

Dipper's tears of sorrow became tears of bittersweet-ness. He clenched his sister like his life depended on it. That was when Mabel noticed the cut on the left side of his temple. She gasped, and touched it, only for Dipper to flinch.

"Who did that?" she demanded.

"The punch-bowl to be perfectly honest," Dipper smiled, his humour slowly climbing out of the hole that surrounded him.

"Well," smiled Mabel coyly, "The punch-bowl wasn't just _your_ enemy tonight."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, I kinda punched Natalie in the face, and she fell flat on her butt inside the bowl. She's a screamer alright!"

Dipper was stunned, and for an uncomfortably long period of time, didn't know how to respond. Then the correct response overtook him; laughter. It was laughter louder than the whole despicable orchestra before him not ten minutes ago, and his sister played back-up.

As they finally quieted down, he looked back to see that his sister had reached into her pockets, pulled out her kit, and then she pulled out Band-Aids. They were certainly not Band-Aids that Dipper would approve of under normal circumstances, having kittens and rainbows on them.

"I think we need to fix that cut," his sister smiled.

Dipper thought for a moment, and had his answer. "I guess we do."

Mabel gently pulled back his hairline, applied the Band-Aid to his forehead, and banished the wound from sight, underneath the charm of a rainbow. Mabel looked her brother in the eye. "And FYI bro, your birthmark is beautiful, and it's always been beautiful. I wish I could have something as cool as that."

Dipper resisted the temptation to cry again, though a blushing smile escaped, as he looked lovingly to his sibling.

It was at that moment they heard the music in the gym resume. Not that generic radio garbage that played before, but a soothing jazz song, entirely without lyrics. They would never know what song it was, but both the Pines twins stopped and were lost in its mood. Perhaps neither wanted to acknowledge the night, perhaps they felt something about themselves in it, but they loved it nonetheless.

Mabel moved close to her brother, with eyes as wide as the moon above. "Remember how you said you had some killer dance moves?"

"Yeah?"

"Show me," she smiled, getting up, and offering her hands.

"What, dance with you?" Dipper asked, clearly amused.

"Yeah, why not?"

"Uh, because it would be the lamest thing ever?" he smirked.

"Then let's be lame together!" Mabel smiled.

This last line won Dipper over. He took her hand, as Mabel rocketed him to the top of the classroom, barely catching his steps.

Having reached the top, she stood, took in the music, and elegantly bowed like a lady of the Jane Austen era. "May, I have this dance?" she asked, imitating the voice of the English aristocracy.

"…Yeah!" laughed Dipper, in undisguised Americanism.

They locked hands, and imitated the steps they saw in a thousand movies, shows, and books. Steps forward and back, arm-to-arm, walking in step. Nothing incredible, but it was real. At points, they barely restrained their laughter at the absurdity of the situation.

"Aw man," Dipper snickered. "This is without a doubt, _the lamest_ thing I've ever done."

"Oh lighten-up," Mabel smiled. It was a real smile though. She had gotten her brother back from the abyss. It may have been a second Valentine's Day, but for the second time, she had given her brother a reason to his life. As they continued their parody of a dance, a testament to both their dateless-ness, they came together. Who cared if they didn't have dates? They shared the most incredible sibling relationship on Earth. In the absence of their parents, they had to look out for each other, and together they became an unstoppable team. If only there was some place they could harness both those skills together…

Regardless of all that, Mabel had just one more thing to say.

"Dipper?"

"Yeah, Mabel? What is it?"

"I want you to promise me one thing."

"What's that?"

She stopped the dance, put her hand over his shoulder, and looked directly into his eyes. "Don't believe the things you say about yourself when you're sad and alone."

Dipper stood still. He pondered upon how awfully succinct and necessary that sentence was, and why he hadn't heard it until then. He put his hand over Mabel's, and looked lovingly into her eyes. "I promise, Mabel. Awkward sibling hug?"

" _Sincere_ sibling hug," she corrected him.

Dipper obliged his sister. Still embracing, he snuggled into her shoulder. "Hey, Mabel," he said affectionately, "I have something to say too. You know how you said that I'm your best friend?"

"Yeah?"

"I want you to know that…you're my best friend too."

Mabel hugged tighter, restraining herself from breaking into tears. "Thanks, bro."

They lost track of time in their warm embrace, but even if they didn't know how long it was, it was the time of their lives.

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THE END


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